The U.S. authorities has sanctioned a Russian nationwide for allegedly laundering thousands and thousands of {dollars} price of sufferer ransom funds on behalf of people linked to the infamous Ryuk ransomware group.
In accordance with an announcement from the U.S. Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management (OFAC), Ekaterina Zhdanova, 37, is accused of utilizing digital foreign money alternate transfers and fraudulent accounts to launder cash for Russian elites, ransomware teams, and different unhealthy actors to assist them evade financial sanctions imposed on Russia’s monetary system following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Ryuk first emerged in 2018 and is understood for its assaults focusing on the U.S. public sector. In 2020, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the gang was linked to an assault on Common Well being Providers, one of many largest healthcare suppliers within the U.S., costing the healthcare large not less than $67 million in misplaced earnings.
OFAC mentioned Zhdanova laundered greater than $2.3 million of “suspected sufferer funds” for a Ryuk ransomware affiliate in 2021. Zhdanova allegedly ran the illicit funds by way of cryptocurrency exchanges that lack anti-money laundering controls, together with the Russia-based Garantex alternate, which was the topic of U.S. sanctions in 2022.
Zhdanova additionally makes use of conventional companies to take care of entry to the worldwide monetary system, together with by way of a luxurious watch firm that has places of work all over the world, based on OFAC. As per Chainalysis, a search of Zhdanova’s electronic mail tackle additionally reveals that she is at the moment promoting a 13-room resort in Moscow that “generates a revenue of as much as 1,000,000 rubles a month,” or about $11,000 on the time of writing — although it’s unclear the resort enterprise pertains to her alleged cash laundering exercise.
information.killnetswitch despatched Zhdanova a number of WhatsApp and Sign messages by way of the telephone quantity included on the itemizing, however didn’t hear again.
Zhdanova has additionally been accused of conducting digital foreign money alternate transfers on behalf of oligarchs who’ve relocated internationally. In accordance with OFAC, a Russian oligarch sought out Zhdanova to maneuver over $100 million in wealth on their behalf to the United Arab Emirates, and he or she additionally helped comparable purchasers receive tax residency within the nation, in addition to identification playing cards and financial institution accounts primarily based in Dubai.
In February, the U.S. and U.Okay. governments levied sanctions in opposition to seven people allegedly linked to a single community behind the Conti and Ryuk ransomware variants, in addition to the notorious Trickbot banking trojan. The sanctions got here days after Russian citizen Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov, 30, pleaded responsible in a U.S. courtroom to laundering Ryuk ransomware funds following his extradition from the Netherlands.
